Hayes Jury Continues Penalty Phase Deliberations For Second Day

A scrum of videographers leads Dr. William Petit back to his car Saturday… (Michael McAndrews / Hartford…)

November 07, 2010|By ALAINE GRIFFIN, agriffin@courant.com

NEW HAVEN — The grueling work of deciding whether a man lives or dies for killing a Cheshire mother and her daughters continued Saturday as extraordinary acts of kindness and tender reflections of what was lost in the crime unfolded in the courtroom where the much-anticipated verdict will be read.

Jurors deciding the fate of convicted triple-murderer Steven Hayes were just about to go into their 11th hour of discussions over two days when they emerged from the deliberation room Saturday afternoon looking tired.

They decided to call it quits shortly after 4 p.m.

The seven women and five men will be back in Superior Court this morning to decide whether Hayes will live the rest of his life in prison or die by lethal injection for torturing and killing Jennifer Hawke-Petit and her daughters, Hayley, 17, and Michaela, 11, during a home invasion and arson at their Cheshire home on July 23, 2007.

As the jury grappled with the daunting life-vs.-death task and reminders of the crime, Florence Triano focused on something different.

The 95-year-old great-grandmother of Hayley and Michaela smiled as she remembered the Fridays she spent teaching Michaela — "KK" —an aspiring chef who loved the Food Network, how to make pizza.

The gray-haired Triano walked slowly into court. She had one arm linked through the arm of her daughter, Johanna Ierna, 76. In her other hand, she clutched a cane with blue flowers painted on it.

And when she spoke, she brought rarely seen smiles to the faces of her grandson, Dr. William Petit Jr., the only one to survive the attack on his family, and Petit's fiercely loyal sister, Johanna Petit Chapman, who has been at Petit's side throughout the trial.

They laughed as she recalled KK's culinary adventures, including the first time she made Triano macaroni and cheese.

"Sometimes all we would do is just talk and look at each other," Triano said with a smile.

And then her eyes changed. "I miss her," she said.

On the other side of the courtroom gallery, Hayes' younger brother Matthew Hayes, who traveled from Seattle for deliberations, sat just feet behind the brother he called a monster shortly after the killings.

During the trial's penalty phase, prosecutors used a damning statement that Matthew Hayes gave to police describing his brother as a coward and conniving sadist who never took responsibility for his criminal life.

On Saturday, the elder Hayes offered a more significant acknowledgement of his brother than the one the day before, nodding to him as he was led into the courtroom by judicial marshals.

"I told him I was sorry he had to go through this," Hawke said later about the exchange. Hawke, who at times has read the Bible with his wife in the courtroom, said he made the gesture because he thought Matthew Hayes looked like he was struggling.

Hawke said a thankful Hayes replied that "he was sorry we have to go through this."

Weekend deliberations have not taken place in Superior Court in Connecticut for decades but with just one alternate left and the high-stakes nature of the widely publicized trial, Judge Jon C. Blue ordered jurors to work on Saturday and today — and into the night, if necessary.

Before the jury began deliberations Saturday, Blue acknowledged the unusual proceedings. The only business at the Church Street courthouse this weekend is the Hayes trial. Court staff and judicial marshals were brought in for duty.

"I just want to thank everyone for their extraordinary professionalism to be willing to come to court on this Saturday."

Blue told jurors the court would adapt to their schedule and said they controlled the clock.

"If you want to work deep into the night, we are here," Blue said.

When first offered a lunch break at noon, jurors declined, saying they wanted to continue their work, creating speculation in the gallery that a possible verdict was near. But at 1 p.m., the jury asked for a lunch recess. They reported to Blue at about 4:15 p.m. that they wanted to return to deliberations the next day.

Cindy Hawke-Renn, the sister of Hawke-Petit, told reporters outside the courthouse that her family was trying to stay "upbeat" through the deliberations.

It's the worst thing we've ever been through in our lives and I hope nobody ever has to go through it again," Hawke-Renn said. "I honestly can't imagine, if the death penalty is not sought in this, when it would ever be used."

But, she added, it has to "be the jury's choice, not mine."

Hayes was convicted Oct. 5 of breaking into the Petits' home in the middle of the night, beating Petit and tying up the family while he and an accomplice robbed the family's Cheshire home. At one point, Hayes forced Hawke-Petit to drive to a bank to withdraw money.